Sunday's Lapeer Loggers game postponed but All-American Hockey League is working to try and keep franchise alive

FLINT, Michigan — The Lapeer Loggers game Sunday at the Polar Palace has been postponed but All-American Hockey League commissioner Rod Davidson doesn't think the team's recent financial problems necessarily means the All-American Hockey League club will fold.

Davidson said Saturday that the AAHL has taken over control of the Loggers from George Harrison and that the league is looking for a new owner to take over the first-year club.

But Sunday's game against the first-place Battle Creek Revolution has been postponed because the AAHL wasn't able to reach an agreement with the Polar Palace regarding the back rent the arena is owed by the Loggers.

Arena manager Janet Mann had little to say other than the game would not be played today and she referred The Journal to Davidson, who said the AAHL took control of the club from Harrison because the Loggers violated league by-laws and that the team hopes to return to the Polar Palace.

“We're still in negotiations,” said Davidson, who was behind the bench Friday for the Loggers 8-2 loss in Battle Creek after coach Lorne Knauft resigned Thursday. “We tried to put something together and our philosophies clashed over what is owed and what isn't owed.

“Of course, there are three sides to every story. I don't know all the (unpaid) bills that are there. We haven't had much communication. We have had none with George and his son Tyler (the Loggers former general manager), and Chuck (Harrison, who replaced Tyler as G.M.) is back in Canada.

“He's given us some information but we can't assess what is accurate and what isn't. Janet … laid out some stipulations we'd have to meet before they'd ever have us in the building.”

The AAHL is desperately trying to save the Loggers because it considers Lapeer and the Flint area its strongest market.

In a five-team league whose average attendance is 563, the Loggers rank No. 1 with an average of 782. That includes two crowds of 1,000-plus fans out of 10 home games. Lapeer is also one of the strongest teams on the ice with a 10-7-0-1 record to sit in second place, three points behind Battle Creek.

“We really believe in that market,” Davidson said. “It would be a huge loss to lose Lorne Knauft and his people. I tried to convey that to him many times last week, even up until Thursday when he said if things weren't resolved by 9 p.m. he was resigning.

“We've had our ups and downs. I said to Lorne, 'You may think I'm crazy. There's not a lot of personal gain for Rod Davidson. He believes in this model. Your job is to keep this going and keep your players happy and healthy.' I said that would be a huge loss to the market place and I stand by that.

“It's the old cliché that you're only as strong as your weakest link in the chain.”

The Loggers did indeed receive some money but Knauft resigned Thursday, claiming he hadn't been paid in a month. Only five Loggers regulars — David DeSander, Ryan Howarth, Mason Cossette, Nick Bet and Terry Watt — were in the makeshift lineup for the 8-2 New Year's Eve loss in Battle Creek.

Battle Creek outshot Lapeer 48-32 and the game was close on the scoreboard until the Revolution bagged four unanswered goals in the third period after leading 4-2 through 40 minutes.